That’s the message from Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson, who was recently interviewed about the company’s yoga pants and the women who wear them.

The Canadian company’s pants developed a cult following for their quality and apparent ability to flatter women’s butts, but drew a backlash this year when new versions were found to be too sheer. There have also been complaints about pants pilling and seams coming apart.

We want to give Wilson the benefit of the doubt. It’s true that how one uses a product determines how it will hold up.

I, for one, have done sit-ups and lunges on gravel and I only had myself to blame when the fabric on the lower back and knees of my pants got scuffed up. I can’t reasonably blame the pants for not holding up. (For the record, I don’t recommend gravel workouts.)

Even Wilson’s wife, who was also being interviewed in the Bloomberg piece, chimed in to say that improper use — such as doing L-sits on a cement ground, she said — could compromise the garment.

But if that’s the point that Wilson was trying to make, he couldn’t have chosen a worse way to phrase it. To say that “some women’s bodies just don’t actually work” for the pants and that thighs rubbing together are the culprit is, at best, bad customer service. At worst, it’s a blatant example of body-shaming.

Intentional or not, body-shaming is still body-shaming and it’s never OK. A woman’s body is not broken because a pair of brand-new pants, from a company whose quality she previously trusted, is see-through. A woman’s body is not defective because her thighs rub together and cause fabric to pill.

Many women’s thighs touch and rub together. That’s not a judgement; it’s not “good” or “bad,” beautiful or ugly. It just is what it is.

Again, Wilson may very well have meant no ill will against his customers. He may not have intended to sound like Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, who in 2006 said that the brand is designed for the “cool kids” and that plus-size women don’t fall in that group. (Abercrombie announced Wednesday that it will begin selling larger sizes, Reuters reports.) The Lululemon interview could all be a misunderstanding.

But, given the online reaction to Wilson’s words, which is easily Google-able if you’re so inclined, it seems like this needs to be said:

4 comments on “Please, Don’t Blame It On Your Thighs”

They probably moved their manufacturing to a cheaper factory resulting in lower quality garments. Many retailers due this after so many years once they’ve established their customer loyality. They think people won’t notice.

I’m a Lululemon fan and I’m afraid I disagree with Ms. Fard. Not all bodies are created for all pants. While that may not be good or bad, it’s also not Him (Mr. Wilson) that’s the problem. Just because something is popular doesn’t mean we should all wear it or be able to wear it. We, as a nation, are suffering from the illness of obesity. I don’t mean 10 or 15 pounds overweight, I mean 30 or 50 or 100 poundsexcess pounds. Those pounds don’t need to be squeezed into Lululemons or any other spandex pants. It is NOT ok for any of us to be that overweight, or to blame a clothing manufacturer for a “faulty product” because it doesn’t fit our oversized body. It’s time for all of us to reinstall a full length mirror in our bedroom and take an honest look at ourselves. You don’t need Lululemons to be healthy, but you do need to be in shape and weigh what’s reasonable for your height and frame.